Blog #1

It is expected that Obama's inauguration speech and FDR's "Four Freedoms" were going to have numerous similarities because both were voiced by American Presidents who want the same rights and liberties for the United States. It is interesting to see that back in 1941 FDR had goals and objectives to obtain the same freedoms we are still moving towards today. In almost seventy years our country has still not fully gained many of the four freedoms that FDR spoke of in his speech. In particular, I think Obama mainly addressed our freedom from want and from fear. President Roosevelt was forced to lead his country during the time of World War II and still maintain and preserve our basic human rights and freedoms, and now President Obama has the challenge to do the same for our generations in this time of war and a weakened economy. Unfortunately, we are still living in fear; whether it is fear from terrorism, the safety of friends and family, losing a job or home, our citizens live in just as much fear as they did when FDR was president. Obama said, "Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations." He went on to say that our country will not give up the rights that our ancestors worked so hard and long to get. We deserve to live in a country with fear from being physically harmed, or fear that we might lose all that we have worked for.
Freedom from want was also addressed in Obama's speech when he said "We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield the technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age." It was evident to Obama that the people of our country are unhappy with their economic understandings. Not everyone in our country can afford health care or to attend college, and it is important that we will live in a society where most of our wants are met, the basic ones at least. If our nation was unable to provide us with a healthy peacetime life, the people of the United States would be miserable and would live a poor quality of life. It is imperative that our basic needs be met: food, shelter, clothing, safety.
I also noticed that FDR and Obama made a point that our freedoms are placed in the men and women of our country and we willing give out our help to any of the countries who struggle to gain these rights. Just because we are lucky enough to live in a country of the free doesn't mean that other people around the world are as fortunate, so I found it interesting that both presidents put their hearts out to the rest of the world and offer our support, because we once went through the time struggle that they are enduring now. "...America is a freiend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity..." I think it is a good sign that Obama talked about many of the points that President Roosevelt made in his "Four Freedoms" speech; it shows that Obama had the same mindset as Roosevelt did in his presidency, and that President Obama is targeting our country's main flaws and problems in hopes of leading us to success once again.